# cleveland.com vs Newark Advocate

The clearest difference is monetization model: Newark Advocate at free with in-app purchases against cleveland.com's subscription. Newark Advocate also leads on review sentiment (47% vs 30%). cleveland.com's advantage is ratings volume (12K vs 618). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. cleveland.com sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Newark Advocate sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for cleveland.com against 4.4 for Newark Advocate. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: cleveland.com has 12K ratings behind it against 618, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 30% of cleveland.com's written reviews are positive against 47% of Newark Advocate's.

cleveland.com ships an update every 3 weeks, Newark Advocate monthly. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | cleveland.com | Newark Advocate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (12K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clevelandcom/id394810586/reviews)** | [4.4 (618 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/newark-advocate/id553330240/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **12K** | 618 |
| Positive reviews | 29.8% of reviews | **46.8% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Best chart rank | **#90** | #126 |
| Size | 34 MB | 186 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 18.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [cleveland.com](https://appshunter.io/developer/443416244) | [USA TODAY Co., Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/404843797) |

## What reviewers say

### cleveland.com

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clevelandcom/id394810586)

**Currently charting:** #90 Top Grossing · News (US App Store)

Stay informed with local news, sports, and weather updates impacting your community. Get timely and reliable reporting from trusted local journalists covering news, politics, business, and culture.

**Highlights:** Local news reporting, Sports coverage, Weather updates, Politics and business news, Cultural event coverage, Premium content access

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (14)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| cleveland.com Football Insider | $7.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $9.99 | per month |
| All Access to cleveland.com | $10.00 | per month |
| All Access to cleveland.com | $11.99 | per month |
| All Access to Cleveland | $15.00 | per month |
| All access to cleveland.com | $75.00 | per year |
| Insider Digital | $79.99 | per year |
| All access to cleveland.com | $99.99 | per year |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $99.99 | per year |
| All Access to cleveland.com | $100.00 | per year |
| All access to cleveland.com | $119.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- ⭐ Informative local news and sports coverage
- 🌐 Convenient way to stay connected to Cleveland from afar

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐌 Slow app performance and frequent crashes
- 🔒 Inconsistent access to subscriber-only content
- 📰 Biased or low-quality journalism
- 💰 Excessive paywalling of content

**Reported bugs**

- Saved articles frequently deleted
- Inability to access specific sports sections

**Requested features**

- Improved search and navigation
- Restore high school sports coverage
- Bring back user comments and community features


### Newark Advocate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/newark-advocate/id553330240)

**Currently charting:** #126 Top Grossing · Magazines & Newspapers, #184 Top Grossing · News (US App Store)

Stay informed with local news, in-depth journalism, and engaging multimedia content. Receive real-time alerts for breaking news, sports, and weather. Customize your reading experience and access a digital replica of the print edition.

**Highlights:** In-depth local journalism, Breaking news alerts, Sports coverage, Weather alerts, Customizable reading experience, Offline reading, eNewspaper access

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Digital Rate | $9.99 | per month |
| Monthly Digital Rate | $14.99 | per month |
| The Newark Advocate Digital Subscription | $16.99 | per month |
| The Newark Advocate Annual Digital Subscription | $69.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 📰 Strong local news coverage and reporting
- 🏈 Excellent high school sports coverage
- 👍 User-friendly navigation and interface
- 📱 Convenient access to news on-the-go
- 🔔 Helpful notification system for updates

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent login requirement issues
- 📉 Limited local news coverage despite being local paper
- 💰 Paywall restrictions limiting article access
- 🛑 Intrusive rolling ads disrupting reading experience
- ⚙️ Poor app stability and performance

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes and freezes frequently
- Requires reinstalling app daily to function
- Slow launch times (3-5 minutes on some devices)
- Login loops - users must repeatedly log in
- Text display issues - blurry, enlarged text jumps, chopped articles

**Requested features**

- More local Licking County news coverage
- Reduce or eliminate national/USA Today content
- Improved comic section readability
- Direct editor contact and comment functionality
- Better account settings accessibility


## Frequently asked questions

### Is cleveland.com free?

cleveland.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Newark Advocate free?

Newark Advocate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, cleveland.com or Newark Advocate?

cleveland.com is rated higher. cleveland.com averages 4.5 out of 5 from 12K ratings, while Newark Advocate averages 4.4 from 618 ratings.

### Do cleveland.com or Newark Advocate have ads?

Both cleveland.com and Newark Advocate show ads.

### Which is updated more often, cleveland.com or Newark Advocate?

cleveland.com ships an update every 3 weeks, and Newark Advocate monthly. Most recently, cleveland.com was updated on October 29, 2026 and Newark Advocate on October 29, 2026.

### Which is more popular, cleveland.com or Newark Advocate?

cleveland.com currently peaks at #90 in the App Store charts, and Newark Advocate at #126. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*